Just in time for Earth Day, the environmental organization Greenpeace has published the results of a research showing how exports of old clothes serve as camouflage for the disposal of textile waste in the countries of the Global South.
On-the-spot research was published as part of Fashion Revolution Week as the Poisoned Gifts report. In it, Greenpeace Germany uses the example of Kenya and Tanzania to reveal how old clothing exports are misused to dispose of textile waste. The consequences for people and the environment are devastating: the textiles are burned on open fires or end up in huge rubbish dumps along rivers, from where they are washed into the sea.
“The fast fashion industry has turned clothes into non-recyclable, disposable plastic items, like a plastic bag. With our research, we uncover how the countries and companies of the Global North evade their responsibility for this hazardous waste. They leave the people in East Africa alone with the exported plastic and textile waste – without any infrastructure for disposal,” comments Viola Wohlgemuth, Greenpeace’s resource protection expert.
The verdict of the environmental organization is devastating: Even if events such as the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh and increasing environmental awareness, especially among younger target groups, have increased public pressure on the fast fashion industry, the production volume is still increasing by 2.7 per year Percent and greenwashing is widespread.
“More and more fashion brands are striving for a clean image. But the industry is more remote than almost any other from the “circular economy” that many companies are now propagating. Less than one percent of all clothing is made new from recycled textile fibers. … Fast fashion has long since developed into ultra fast fashion, despite all the promises of sustainability, according to Greenpeace.
According to the environmental organization, more than a million tons of old clothes are collected every year in Germany alone; yet less than a third is resold in the country as second-hand goods. Most are exported to Eastern Europe and Africa, where 30 to 40 percent of garments end up in landfills because they are defective, soiled or unsuitable for the local climate. According to Greenpeace, one truckload of textiles is burned every second worldwide.
The environmental organization therefore demands that brands and retailers not only focus on clean supply chains, but also on the impact of their products at the end of their life cycle. As planned in the EU, the export of textile waste should be banned by law and instead good quality durable, durable and repairable clothing should be promoted.
“It’s not enough to write the word ‘sustainable’ on textiles without changing the business model. As with the climate, we need an international agreement that bans the export of textile waste, prescribes recyclable product design and a global tax that includes the polluter pays principle. This means that manufacturers are held financially responsible for the costs of eliminating the environmental and health damage caused throughout the supply chain,” Wohlgemuth concludes.